


wings

by frederickrolled



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Event, Pre-Event, just two angels that love each other but are too stupid to realize it (until it's too late), lucifer invents expresso
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 07:56:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13947171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frederickrolled/pseuds/frederickrolled
Summary: White; the color of light, purity, grace, paradise.Brown; the color of darkness, rot, filth, purgatory.





	wings

An archangel faces his supreme primarch, his face scrunched up in uncertain, unsure fears.

"Ah, Sandalphon, excellent timing. I was about to call for you to taste-test a new brewing method I discovered. Though it's a minute amount of coffee, it's fast and efficient, and carries with it more strength than the norm. Would you like to observe?"

"Lucifer, sir, I..." Sandalphon looked to the side, tempted to let his negativity dissipate into nothing and instead spend time with Lucifer, his only source of comfort in the cold, desolate life he's had, a merciful sun among the freezing sky. His concerns, however, proved to be more powerful, gnawing and snarling at him to be set free, and he gave a heavy sigh as he shook his head. "I'm afraid I must speak with you about something important to me. ...If you have the time of course."

"I always have time for you, my friend. What is on your mind?"

"As much as I enjoy these more intimate moments we've had, especially ever since you discovered coffee, there's something about it all that perturbs me." Sandalphon's breath hitched as he hesitated over his words, his mouth dry and struggling to speak at all.

"I just...don't see what you see in me. I'm quite literally nothing in comparison to you. Or, well, anyone, really... It's a miracle you even take the time to talk to me. A miracle I'm thankful for, but...," Sandalphon trailed off, his bottom lip quivering with an untold emotion.

Lucifer, listening quietly to his woes, pursed his lips before replying back to Sandalphon.

"Sandalphon."

"Yes, sir?"

"Show me your wings, please."

Taken aback by the request, Sandalphon flushed, looking down at his feet in an attempt to repress his embarrassment. "I-I don't see a reason for you to want that. Why would you need to see mine when you have brilliant ones of your own?" Though he was honest and genuine, he couldn't deny the slight hint of envy in his voice, the creeping sensation of jealousy that he refused to acknowledge yet made him sick to his stomach.

Unsatisfied with his answer, Lucifer got closer to Sandalphon and took a hand to Sandalphon's chin, raising his head to face him. Sandalphon's heart skipped a beat upon his eyes meeting Lucifer's, beautiful shades of blue staring with a gaze he was sure could melt him, though he wasn't sure exactly why.

"I don't care about any of that. I want to see them."

As if that was the only thing Sandalphon needed to hear to change his mind, he nodded, backing away from Lucifer's touch despite wanting more than anything to have so much more of it. He closed his eyes and emitted a soft glow that turned into a blinding flash that disappeared almost as soon as it came. What was once empty space behind him was replaced with two brown wings, a prideless look on the owner's face. Lucifer, however, looked more surprised than usual, his blank expression hiding away all the questions he had burning in his mind upon seeing his desire fulfilled.

"May I?", he softly asked, his hands getting closer to Sandalphon's wings in the implication he wanted to touch them. Swallowing hard, Sandalphon nodded, a hopeless fool jumping at any opportunity to bathe in the adoration of the man he admired - and another emotion he had no word for, an escaping feeling he couldn't describe beyond it being the only warmth in his chest, something he couldn't, wouldn't, admit - the most.

Lucifer slowly, tenderly, began to run his fingers through the feathers of the wings, driving a slight shiver from Sandalphon. Each feather seemed to get a special treatment from the primarch's hands, flowing like water with how much care he put into examining each piece, treating the wings more like delicate art that could break with the slightest wrong move.

"Mm. How interesting. They seem suitable for short bursts of speed, not endurance. The structure is very much balanced otherwise, able to adapt to various situations. Good camouflage as well."

Almost instantly, Sandalphon froze, his wings becoming rigid and frightened in response.

"Is something the matter? I didn't hurt you, did I?", Lucifer quickly questioned, letting go of his wings in concern.

"No...no, you're fine. It's just what you said. How you said it, rather," he responded, his breath shuddering. "It reminded me of the labs. They'd always...say it in such a condescending manner, treating me like the experiment I am. It's not your fault, though. Please pay me no mind."

Mulling over and considering what he said, Lucifer blinked once the realization hit him, regret festering in his heart. He remembered all the times passing by that dreaded place, hearing the pained roars and screams of countless primals subject to their Astral's sick curiosities. Sometimes, among that cacophony, he'd hear Sandalphon's own cries, the grip on his sword tight as he forced himself to ignore those awful sounds, an inferno building in him the next time he'd meet with Lucilius. Even despite how much his whole being shook with a loathing he had yet to understand for the cruel Astral, Sandalphon never failed to soothe his soul once they met again, a warm smile on his face even despite all the suffering he had to go through - suffering Lucifer could never understand with how he was the spoiled and preferred one, Sandalphon the abandoned and broken one.

In that regard, Sandalphon was stronger beyond words than Lucifer.

"I didn't mean to stir up bad memories. I apologize, Sandalphon. Would you prefer if we stopped?"

"It's fine. You can keep going, if you want."

"Then," he paused, weighing his options carefully. "Would you like it if I explained your wings in my own words?"

While he would normally refuse such a thing out of respect for Lucifer and his position, curiosity dug deeply into Sandalphon, refusing to let him say no.

"I'm not entirely sure what that entails, but certainly."

"Very well. Thank you." Lucifer went back to caressing Sandalphon's wings, a smile on his features as he contemplated what to say. It was a smile that made Sandalphon's heart hurt, and he looked away, staring back again at his feet, fingers twiddling restlessly with themselves.

"While I wouldn't quit my day job to be a poet," Lucifer began with a soft chuckle. "I can say for sure that they're beautiful."

Sandalphon gave a quiet whine, the commendation making his wings falter.

"Though many would say the brown tone makes them dull and barren, I consider them like the earth. It begins empty, without a trace of life. However, with some nurturing and growing...it can sustain all forms of life. Grass, from which animals eat, followed by their bodies decomposing when they die to return to the soil...a cycle that begins with the ground and ends with it. Something many people don't take the time to appreciate despite what it does to help so many...that's what I consider the earth to be. Able to take so much pain and still keep on going, providing for others... It's beautiful." Lucifer continued stroking the feathers, getting even closer than before, his head almost resting on them like a soft pillow. "Without it, we wouldn't have coffee either," he added with a light laugh.

"...They suit your eyes perfectly as well. You should be proud of such strong, gorgeous wings, Sandalphon. They tell more of you than you know."

Before Sandalphon could begin speaking again, Lucifer beat him to it, continuing to mercilessly turn Sandalphon's face even hotter than when they started.

"Oh! The stripe! I almost forgot to mention it. I think it's quite striking, unique and wonderful. If I'm being honest, it makes them even grander than any of our wings. They're all one tone, repetitive, while yours show something more, something new, something so...you."

"Sir, you...didn't have to go to such lengths to eulogize such things," Sandalphon whispered out after a while, his wings fluttering slightly with a joy he didn't dare show himself. As much as he hated feeling it, the praise, the compliments, all of it made Sandalphon burst with a confidence he's never truly felt in his lifetime, making his vision blurry.

"Why not...? I wanted to. I feel like you deserve better from me, Sandalphon. I want us to get better."

"You have the other primarchs to talk to. You don't need me." The supreme primarch audibly gasped, and Sandalphon almost felt like he should've kept his mouth shut and impulses in check. Lucifer's voice then fell flat again in the way Sandalphon knows he speaks in only when he's truly serious about something.

“They don’t give me the same happiness you do. You bring me a solace more powerful than anyone else could ever hope to do. And I want you to know that, more than anything.”

For the first time since they met, Sandalphon visibly relaxed, a breathless laugh escaping him. “I do know it. It just helps to hear it every once in a while.”

His pleasure at such a response made Lucifer’s eyes shine, twinkling blue meeting blazing red, and he smiled, his demeanor like that of an excited puppy, or at least whatever was close to it in the empty, quiet skies they resided in.

“I’ll make sure to express it more often then. For you.”

“And I’ll make sure to take your words to heart.”

  


* * *

  


In the quiet quarters of the Grandcypher, a newly crowned supreme primarch sat alone, gazing outside his window solemnly, observing the stars that hung close by, the moon that shone softly, and the wind that whispered nothing against the window.

A light glow emanated from him and his wings fell onto his bed like polluted water, muddled and messy.

He grabbed them tightly, ignoring the pain that came with it, threatening to rip them apart, pluck out each feather one by one, cut them off like he felt he deserved to just to rid himself of the dead weight on his back, ugly, brown limbs that didn’t deserve to be on the body of a supreme primarch.

Instead, he only brought them to his lips, kissing them softly, tears dripping onto them.

Among the few feathers that fell out from the wings, a single one stood out, the white hue unmistakable in the presence of the darker feathers. The angel grabbed it gently and stared at it in silence for a while before going to open his window, the night sky still young and amiable.

With a bittersweet smile, he let the feather go from his hand, an ethereal envoy for the true primarch that gave his everything to protect the sky it was now flying freely in.

**Author's Note:**

> wow my first work on here! the tags are a bit barren because i'm still getting the hang of it but thank you very much for reading! i loved these two ever since the first event and i'm still dying so i'll very likely write more for them... this was just something short to sate my appetite........For Now  
>   
> as an added bonus, my friend drew a [very lovely picture](https://twitter.com/saejimas/status/973071401459617793) to accompany this fic so please be sure to check it out!


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